The life-cycle assessment of a single-storey retail building in Canada

This study investigates the breakdown of primary energy use and global warming potential (GWP) in a single-storey retail building located in Toronto, Canada, with a 50 year lifespan. Five different types of buildings are examined to investigate the impact associated with the choice of building materials. Over a 50 year lifespan, the operating energy and operating GWP of the five buildings only differs by 3% and 4% respectively. The total embodied energy and embodied GWP differs by as much as 44% and 35% respectively. The roof alone accounts for around 50% of the total embodied energy and GWP in these buildings, which is far greater than the contribution from any other individual building component. However, operating effects in these buildings account for around 90% of the total effects and far outweigh any differences in embodied effects between the buildings. Therefore, the total energy and total GWP of these buildings only differs at most by 6% and 7% respectively over a 50 year lifespan.